1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an automatic seatbelt system for automatically fastening a seatbelt system for protecting an occupant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Seatbelt systems are adapted to restrain and protect the occupant at the time of collision of a vehicle. However, for reasons such as troublesome process of fastening the restraining webbing, the rate of wearers of the webbings is very low. Thus, there have been proposed automatic seatbelt systems capable of automatically fastening the restraining webbing to the occupant after he has entered the vehicle.
Among those automatic seatbelt systems, such a seatbelt system that the webbing is suspendedly extended from a vehicle door for entering or leaving the vehicle to the substantially central portion of the vehicle through about an occupant's seat has been highly evaluated because of the low costs in manufacture and reliable operation thereof. In the automatic seatbelt system of the type described above, one end of the webbing, the other end of which is engaged with the door, is wound up into a retractor, which is provided adjacent a tunnel portion formed at the substantially central portion of the vehicle, whereby the webbing is wound off from the retractor and, when the door is opened, the intermediate portion of the webbing is adapted to form a space for the occupant to enter or leave the vehicle between itself and the occupant's seat in accordance with a circular arcuate opening motion of the door.
However, with the automatic seatbelt system as described above, when the occupant leaves the vehicle, the intermediate portion of the webbing moves toward the door while being wound off from the retractor during the opening motion of the door, whereby this moving webbing slides on the chest of the occupant seated, thereby presenting such disadvantages that an uncomfortable feeling is given to the occupant and the sliding webbing causes a necktie pin, fountain pen, ball-point pen or the like attached onto the occupant's clothes to fall off therefrom.